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Vermeer Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Vermeer Charitable Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$5.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
122
Grants FY2025still arriving
18
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$5.1MPublic Benefit$783kArts & Culture$741kHuman Services$676kFood & Nutrition$605kRecreation & Sports$206kEnvironment$182kHealth$172kOther$0
02FY2025 · 122 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k74 grants · $138k
  • $10k–50k28 grants · $435k
  • $50k–250k18 grants · $2.1M
  • $250k+2 grants · $2.5M
$2,500
Median grant
18
States reached
$33M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PELLA REC CENTER$2,000,000
FRIENDS OF THE PELLA COMMUNITY CENTER INC$500,000
PELLA CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL$240,000
FOOD BANK OF IOWA$229,000
DES MOINES CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$202,000
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE$200,000
THE WELL RESOURCE CENTER$150,000
CENTRAL COLLEGE$108,000
DORDT UNIVERSITY$106,000
GREENVILLE TECH FOUNDATION INC$102,000
COMMUINITY BETTERMENT ORGANIZATION PELLA$100,000
TRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE$100,000
WESLEY LIFE FOUNDATION$100,000
GREAT OUTDOORS FOUNDATION$90,000
CITY OF PELLA$83,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $558k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 58% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $100 → 14%WESLEY RETIREMENT SERVICES: $150k → 5%MAHASKA COUNTY YMCA: $25k → 10%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $100 → 14%MAHASKA COUNTY YMCA: $25k → 10%CONCORDIA PLACE: $100 → 14%CHRISTIAN RECORD SERVICES: $500 → 13%COMMUNITY HAND UP: $1k → 5%ATLANTIC FOOD PANTRY: $11k → 14%OVERFLOW THRIFT STORE: $3k → 17%CONCORDIA PLACE: $100 → 14%CRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES: $10k → 5%ATLANTIC FOOD PANTRY: $3k → 14%KNOXVILLE SENIOR CENTER: $5k → 8%KNOXVILLE SENIOR CENTER: $5k → 8%AMERICAN HOME FINDING ASSOCIATION: $1k → 16%DOROTHY'S HOUSE: $250 → 10%INSPIRATIONS CHILD CARE AND PRESCHOOL CENTER: $250 → 9%818 FORWARD WITH FAITH: $50k → 10%STEPPING STONES EARLY LEARNING CENTER: $250 → 8%HOPE MINISTRIES: $3k → 10%818 FORWARD WITH FAITH: $250 → 10%WESLEY RETIREMENT SERVICES: $100k → 10%WESLEY RETIREMENT SERVICES: $100k → 10%MANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $18k → 8%MANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $11k → 8%FAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $5k → 8%FAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $4k → 8%FAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $4k → 8%FAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $4k → 8%FAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $4k → 8%FAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $4k → 8%MANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $3k → 8%SCHOK AND AWE INC: $2k → 8%SCHOK AND AWE INC: $2k → 8%SCHOK AND AWE INC: $2k → 8%SCHOK AND AWE INC: $2k → 8%MANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $500 → 8%MANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $500 → 8%MANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $100 → 8%MANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $100 → 8%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
NH
WA
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
KS
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
MS
AL
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 114 repeat orgs$3.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

114 repeat relationships: 73 still active in FY2025, 41 since wound down; 47 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

114
126

Total granted

$11M
$580k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
0%

Still filing today

52%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 41% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.0M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesHealthArts & CulturePhilanthropyAnimalsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • TS
    THE SOCIETY OF PELLA CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
    7× · 2017–2025 · $923k · revenue +276%
  • CC
    CENTRAL COLLEGE
    7× · 2017–2025 · $718k · revenue +7%
  • DU
    DORDT UNIVERSITY
    6× · 2017–2025 · $668k · revenue +66%

Funded once

  • PK
    PELLA KIWANIS CLUB
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • BI
    BLESSMAN INTERNATIONAL INC
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue -28%
  • NM
    Newton Main Street
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue -5%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Grand View University

Engages, equips and empowers learners to explore their vocations, fulfill their potential and serve the world.

Education
2
Central Iowa Christian School

Provision of christ centered education with scholastic excellence.

Education
3
Cornell College

Cornell college offers an innovative and rigorous learning community where faculty and staff collaborate with students to develop the intellectual curiosity, creativity and moral courage necessary for a lifetime of learning and engaged…

Education
4
Union College

Union college is a seventh-day adventist community of higher education, inspired by jesus christ, and dedicated to empowering students to learn, serve, and lead.

Education
5
Pella Regional Health Center

The mission of pella regional health center is to provide healthcare and healing services with christian compassion.

Health
6
University of the Ozarks

True to our christian heritage, we prepare students from diverse religious, cultural, educational and economic backgrounds to live life fully.

Education
7
Mid-America Christian University Inc

Mid-america christian university prepares students through a wesleyan perspective to create, collaborate, and innovate to solve local and global problems for the glory of god through jesus christ and the good of society.

—
8
Dallas International University

As a christian university, we provide education and research opportunities preparing global leaders to partner with local communities.

Education
9
Midwest University

Christian institution of higher learning dedicated to the exploration, discernment, sustentation, and dissemination of god's truth. midwest is committed to excellence in education encouraging students to comprehensively consider god's word…

Education
10
Evangel University

Evangel is a comprehensive christian university that is committed to excellence in educating and equipping students to become spirit empowered servants of god who will impact the church and society globally.

Education
11
Taylor University

The mission of Taylor University is to develop servant-leaders marked with a passion to minister Christ's redemptive love, grace, and truth to a world in need.

Education
12
Iowa Mennonite School

To offer high school students an academically excellent, christ-centered education. within a caring community, hillcrest academy prepares students for lives of christian discipleship, peacemaking and service.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Meals From the Heartland Inc; the most unlike its peers is Iowans for Ukrainians. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

137 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 137 of the 292 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
25
Early backer (in before they grew)
132/137
Grantees still filing
72/137
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PELLA REC CENTER: $2,000,000 · OtherPELLA REC CENTERPELLA CHRISTIAN GRADE SCHOOL: $1,096,400 · OtherPELLA CHRISTIAN GRADE SCHOOLCITY OF PELLA: $833,500 · OtherCITY OF PELLAIndividual grant recipient: $316,350 · Other+133 more: $2,964,649 · Other+133 moreTHE SOCIETY OF PELLA CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $923,250 · EducationTHE SOCIETY OF PELLA CHRISTIAN SCHO…CENTRAL COLLEGE: $718,000 · EducationCENTRAL COLLEGEDORDT UNIVERSITY: $668,000 · EducationDORDT UNIVERSITYNORTHWESTERN COLLEGE: $557,024 · EducationNORTHWESTERN COLLEGEDES MOINES CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $532,100 · EducationDES MOINES CHRISTIAN SCHOOLSTRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ASSOCIATION: $514,000 · EducationTRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ASSOCIATI…LITTLE EAGLE: $310,000 · EducationLITTLE EAGLE+24 more: $273,648 · Education+24 moreFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $561,700 · Food & NutritionMEALS FROM THE HEARTLAND INC: $63,324 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $14,925 · Food & NutritionLAKE VIEW CAMP & CONFERENCE CENTER: $300,000 · Arts & CulturePELLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $204,000 · Arts & CultureLIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Arts & CultureCROWN BROADCASTING: $31,500 · Arts & CultureNewton Main Street: $25,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $17,000 · Arts & CultureWESLEY RETIREMENT SERVICES INC: $350,000 · Human Services818 FORWARD WITH FAITH INC: $50,250 · Human ServicesMAHASKA COUNTY YMCA: $50,000 · Human ServicesMANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $32,950 · Human ServicesFAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $25,250 · Human Services+6 more: $45,775 · Human ServicesFRIENDS OF THE PELLA COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $500,000 · Public Benefit+1 more: $4,200 · Public BenefitTHE WELL RESOURCE CENTER: $245,800 · HealthDISCOVER HOPE 517: $95,000 · HealthBLESSMAN INTERNATIONAL INC: $50,000 · Health+5 more: $22,200 · Health
Other$7,210,899Education$4,496,022Food & Nutrition$639,949Arts & Culture$627,500Human Services$554,225Public Benefit$504,200Health$413,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPELLA CHRISTIAN GRADE SCHOOL: $1,096,400 over 7y, 7.1% of budgetTHE SOCIETY OF PELLA CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $923,250 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetCENTRAL COLLEGE: $718,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetDORDT UNIVERSITY: $668,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $561,700 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetNORTHWESTERN COLLEGE: $557,024 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetDES MOINES CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $532,100 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetTRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ASSOCIATION: $514,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PELLA COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $500,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetWESLEY RETIREMENT SERVICES INC: $350,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLITTLE EAGLE: $310,000 over 4y, 55% of budgetLAKE VIEW CAMP & CONFERENCE CENTER: $300,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetTHE WELL RESOURCE CENTER: $245,800 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetPELLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $204,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetPELLA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $117,500 over 7y, 15% of budgetGREENVILLE TECH FOUNDATION INC: $107,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSPIRIT OF PELLA: $100,250 over 2y, 60% of budgetDISCOVER HOPE 517: $95,000 over 4y, 6.1% of budgetGREAT OUTDOORS FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetWONDER SPELEN: $80,000 over 2y, 8.7% of budgetINDIAN HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $71,648 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetCROSSROADS OF PELLA: $67,755 over 7y, 3.6% of budgetMEALS FROM THE HEARTLAND INC: $63,324 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetPLEASANTVILLE YOUTH INITIATIVE: $51,100 over 5y, 25% of budget818 FORWARD WITH FAITH INC: $50,250 over 2y, 33% of budgetMAHASKA COUNTY YMCA: $50,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetLIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetBLESSMAN INTERNATIONAL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMANY HANDS FOR HAITI: $32,950 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCROWN BROADCASTING: $31,500 over 3y, 5.8% of budgetWILDWOOD HILLS INC: $26,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $26,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILIES FIRST OF PELLA: $25,250 over 6y, 12% of budgetNewton Main Street: $25,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetCHILDREN AND FAMILY URBAN MINISTRIES D/B/A CHILDREN AND FAMILY URBAN MOVEMENT: $20,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVISION ATLANTIC INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCALVIN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN: $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetLEESBURG FOOD BANK INC: $17,700 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $14,925 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetATLANTIC FOOD PANTRY INC: $13,375 over 2y, 14% of budgetFREEDOM FOR YOUTH MINISTRIES: $12,700 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $11,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMARION COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $11,000 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetKNOXVILLE SENIOR CENTER: $10,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetKICK IT FORWARD: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetGREATER DES MOINES PUBLIC ART FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds PELLA CHRISTIAN GRADE SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE SOCIETY OF PELLA CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds DORDT UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds TRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE PELLA COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds WESLEY RETIREMENT SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE EAGLE ↗
  • Who funds LAKE VIEW CAMP & CONFERENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE WELL RESOURCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds PELLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds PELLA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GREENVILLE TECH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SPIRIT OF PELLA ↗
  • Who funds WESLEYLIFE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DISCOVER HOPE 517 ↗
  • Who funds GREAT OUTDOORS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WONDER SPELEN ↗
  • Who funds INDIAN HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CROSSROADS OF PELLA ↗
  • Who funds MEALS FROM THE HEARTLAND INC ↗
  • Who funds PLEASANTVILLE YOUTH INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds 818 FORWARD WITH FAITH INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Pella Rolscreen Found…Community Fdn of Grea…Weiler FoundationPrairie Meadows Race …R & L Vermeer Foundat…Boat Foundation IncPeter H and E Lucille…Meredith Corporation …The West Bancorporati…EMC Insurance Foundat…Variety - the Childre…Vanden Bosch Foundati…
Pella Rolscreen FoundationIA85.9× affinity44 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Pella Rolscreen Foundation · Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn · Weiler Foundation · Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc · R & L Vermeer Foundation Inc · Boat Foundation Inc · Peter H and E Lucille Gaass Kuyper Foundation · Meredith Corporation Foundation · The West Bancorporation Foundation Inc · EMC Insurance Foundation · Variety - the Children's Charity of Iowa · Vanden Bosch Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Vermeer Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Vermeer Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Food for the Poor Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
21report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Vermeer Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Vermeer Charitable Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 292 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Vermeer’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home